Corps rolling out proposals for new drought management plan

Releases would be slowed down earlier during severe droughts; Corps taking public input on proposal until mid-July

Alejandro Diaz of Williamston looks at a lake-level marker on dry land, along the shoreline at Singing Pines Recreation Area at Lake Hartwell in Starr on Wednesday. The lake is still low despite recent record rainfall in May. (Photo: Ken Ruinard/Independent Mail)

Lake Hartwell users have until mid-July to look over possible changes to how the Corps of Engineers copes with drought conditions.

The changes in a draft proposal released this week by the Corps' Savannah District office include reducing downstream releases during droughts. Trigger levels would remain the same for light drought or, Level 1 (656 feet above sea level) and mild drought, Level 2 (654 feet), but the Level 3 trigger – the second most severe drought designation – would rise from 646 feet to 652 feet.

“One of the differences is raising the elevation of Level 3,” said William Bailey, Chief of Planning for the Corps’ Savannah District. “There will be more flow reductions, and we bring them earlier in the drought.”

The actual release numbers recommended will apply to the Lake Thurmond dam. Thurmond and Hartwell lakes are balanced; that means they are typically drawn down at the same rate and Lake Russell stores the slack between those two.

The proposal calls for Thurmond releases to be 4,000 cubic feet per second during Level 1 drought conditions, 3,800 cfs during Level 2 conditions between February and October and 3,600 cfs from November to January. Level 3 releases would be 3,600 cfs between February and October and drop to 3,100 cfs from November to January.

The recommendations come from two-plus years’ work by the Corps, The Nature Conservancy and state natural resource staffs in South Carolina and Georgia. Six different options were looked at, as well as making no changes at all.

Corps spokesman Billy Birdwell said the recommended option – known as Alternative 2 – “offers the most potential benefit and least negative impact … this one has the best balance.”

The study states that none of the changes would upset local water supplies, economic conditions or the ecology of the 300-mile-long Savannah River Basin, which includes the three Corps lakes, the Keowee and Jocassee reservoirs operated by Duke Energy and the river south to the Port of Savannah.

A blue heron stands on exposed rocks above low water along the Savannah River below the Hartwell Dam on Wednesday. The lake is still low despite recent record rainfall in May. (Photo: Ken Ruinard/Independent Mail)

The Upstate is recovering steadily from last year's drought. Oconee, Pickens and Anderson counties were all moved from severe status to normal last week by the state's Drought Response Committee. Greenville County remains listed in incipient status.

"We've experienced a drastic turnaround in just two months' time," said Pickens County naturalist Dennis Chastain, a member of the drought committee. "Groundwater has significantly improved. Streams are flowing well. There are no water supply problems. And agriculture at all levels seems to be in great shape..."

Birdwell and other Corps officials will visit the north end of the Savannah basin June 26, when they host a workshop at North Georgia Technical College, 8989 Ga. 17 South in Toccoa. There will be an open house from 6-7 p.m., followed by a presentation about lake management and a question and answer session.

“We’ve had a number of questions about water management from the public, especially during drought,” Melissa Wolf, chief of the Natural Resources Section for the Savannah District, said in a news release. “This workshop will assist the public in understanding the complex and interacting factors involving reservoir levels and water management.”

Birdwell said people could ask about the drought study and Alternative 2 at the Toccoa event, but neither subject is the purpose of the workshop.

The Corps will take public comments on the study until July 13 at noon. Bailey said his staff would get together with The Nature Conservancy and state officials to review that input, then submit a final plan to the Corps’ regional office in Atlanta for approval later this year.